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From a Western Box (2004)

by Yoshi

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    Written, produced & performed by Yusuf "Yoshi" Misdaq. Cover artwork in collaboration with Jordanian painter Dana Shahzada.

    "What hip-hop always was about, appropriating and re-interpreting the heritage of the old-school." - UKHH.com

    "An effortless combination of electronica, hip-hop & the stylised mood of ambient...Yoshi lays down tight tracks with smart vocal infusions and political narratives." - PUNK PLANET

    "Yoshi comes from a world where Sergio Leone, the RZA, anti-establishment politics, Middle Eastern strife, ambient Hip Hop, Akira Kurosawa and potent skunk exist in harmony...Managing to sound both ominous and chilled at the same time, this is obviously a deeply personal record about skewed perspectives, about looking at the UK from its marginal areas and wondering whether you're a part of it." - Nick Southall, STYLUS MAGAZINE

    "I have listened to it a number of times - why, it's on right now - and each time I find more to listen to within it... Both politically engaged and musically interesting, (especially some of the drum rhythms)... The command of the rap idiom is admirable and the variety of textures remarkable." - Ethnomusicology Professor John Baily, GOLDSMITHS UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

    "Yoshi's music is exciting, buoyed by a frankness bordering on naiveté as he unabashedly proclaims, "I got a mindful of music, I love it a lot." Indeed, his love of hip-hop, and of music in general, comes through in both his willingness to experiment and in his lyrics [and his] genuine enthusiasm can't help but seep into your consciousness, its example encouraging you to pursue the things that you love." - SPLENDID MAGAZINE     ... more
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      $7.33 USD  or more

     

1.
Tears from a Box (Intro) 00:51
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2.
Digital Living (The Sickness) 04:42
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3.
A'Salaam Alaikum, How Do U Do? 04:16
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4.
Idol Smash 03:53
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5.
Karzai Splits 01:05
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6.
My View 03:23
lyrics
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I put my soul in my belly every day Before I rap I clear my thoughts of unnecessary clichés See I'm takin' this to back in the day When we was 6-years old and gettin' pushed out the way A boy becomes a man And on the way he learns his trade I got this mic in my hand And by the way I'm gettin' paid But I'm givin' it to charity (so what do you say, man?) Yeah I'm an MC, Yeah I work in Oxfam Yeah I ain't your average man I got plans Spreading awareness through this hip-hop, And shit got so confusing When I rapped for a contract So I isolate myself and make hits that Buzz with the intellectual power of Freedom Love's on my mind and I'm just trynna break even The world's so cold and all the people is freezing You are the weakest link But I love you anyway baby That's my motto, on the mic I go crazy 'cos everyday a new paedophile makes me Release this stress, where my forehead sweats I can feel the weight of this world on my shoulders CHORUS X2 (Thinkin bout my life) I take many perspectives (Thinkin bout my life) And I can't be so objective The world's mine as I see it and I live it I can't be nobody but me on this planet I got two million stories to tell My poetology is hip-hop and biology It's Wu-Tang mixed with sociology My knowledge of the world (it) guarantees me an MC But you been sleepin' on me for too long Ignoring my sound like a car alarm You twisted my arm, and now I'm Going it alone (oh man) I ain't about to stop myself learning I seen too many old friends who since stopped evolving Too many people who got shallow and involved in Fashion or trendy-friends and cool circles Spend half their lives jumping meaningless hurdles I ain't about that life-livin pretense I'm all about being in between your picket fence 'cos if you try and put creative people in a box We start free-running til there's holes in our socks This city is mine and I ain't sharing my stocks My value is high 'cos I'm sharp like Mr. Spock Staying cool while the right-wingers fly by my block Stay cool! Fundamentalists get bothered and hot Spit my lines for Palestine and I never stop And that's my view from this Western Box. .. CHORUS X2 (Thinkin bout my life) I take many perspectives (Thinkin bout my life) And I can't be so objective The world's mine as I see it and I live it I can't be nobody but me on this planet
7.
Sunline 05:32
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8.
From a Western Box 05:03
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9.
Guantanamo Convo (Skit) 00:38
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10.
Misty 07:32
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11.
Nightmare on Terror 04:04
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about

"After listening to it all the way through the first time, I asked myself – whoa-hooo Nadiaaa, what is hip-hop to you? Cuz Im actually a big fan of hip hop, but Ive always attached it to a certain ‘type.’ And in this album it challenged those conceived notions, but in it I see hip-hop evolving into something brighter, something more grounded, something more real." Nadia, New Jersey, USA

"The album is one of my favorites of 2004, after my first listen through it got me. The production is beautiful, and the themes ranging from spirituality to politics fit right. Simply great hip hop." - Ben, Rhode Island, USA

"I loved most of the instrumental work on the album, you’re a dope beat-maker mate.. Truly, one of the most interesting I’ve heard from these shores... The slower more spoken word approach on 'Nightmare On Terror' worked to a tee (plus the track is dope..)..." - Kal, Leeds, UK

"The lyrics are soo fresh, they just have that fresh quality to them, fresh as in different, unique... It's like they just pull you to pay attention, the way the words are arranged too." - Dolores, California, USA

"I love the mesh of analog samples with the digital production, it works really well. The end of 'Sunline', when the sample kicks in (T.S Eliot?) is just a beautiful moment." - Owen, Glamorgan, UK

credits

released March 5, 2004

Written, Produced & Performed by Yusuf Misdaq aka Yoshi
Track 06 produced by Diamondscepter
Track 11 produced by Freezerman
Painting detail on cover taken from the piece "Mon Dieu" by Jordanian artist Dana Shahzada

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MASTAKAI Los Angeles, California

MASTAKAI, (previously Yoshi / Yusuf Misdaq) has lived many lives in many places. He was making beats, writing lyrics, producing music and singing songs long before he was born. He is from Afghanistan. He will die there, and be reborn again there.

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